Bottom board assembly for deehives



July 27, 1948. \(v. DIEHNELT BOTTOM BOARD ASSEMBLY FOR BEEHIVES FiledJune 23, 1945 uni INVENTOR.

A 7' TOBA/zE'V-S Patented July 27, 1948 own-so sures r 2,446,081 r s:eoa ioM-anonnnhssamnpy Fem BEE'EIHVES -1Zl alter Diehnelt Menomoneelgalls Wis A Application June 23, 1945, fier'iail N 0; 601:235

This invention relates to improvementsin bottomiboard assemblies .forbeehives.

Bottom board assemblies, as commonly zconstructed, comprise 'two siderails, arear 'rail,:and

a bottom board proper supported between the rails [and spaced below thebottom of the hive proper. The hive is supported on the 'upper edges of"the side rails, :and the spacing between the rbottomboarcl proper andthe bottom-of :the hive is extremely important. blies as heretoforemanufactured have usually had 'the bottom board proper somounted betweenthe "rails as to provide. a space "of three-eighths of an inch betweenthe :upper surface of theibots tom board proper and the bottomoftthethiveand to provide "a space of fseven-reighths (Of an inchbetween :the *lower surface :of the bottom aboard properrand the:ground. l he above description applies :to the method of using bottomboards :in

thesummer. 'By havingza space-of'three-eighths considered necessary toturn over the bottom board assembly :for winter stimeuse .soias wtoprovide: a large seven-eighths .inch space between the bottom board andthe bottom .of the hive. This usually allows enough room for the .cleadbodies while still permitting the bees to reach the combs by crawling ontop of the dead bodies. While the bees attempt to push the deadbodiesoutof the frontend of thebottom board assembly, this is difiicult withpresent day constructions. Furthermore, careless bee keepers sometimesBottom board assem- It ;has heretofore --been 2 Claims. (01. 6W4. i

leave the bottom board assembly in the wrong position for summer so thatthere istherelatively large space below the bottom of the hive. isobjectionablebecause the bees, which are very active in summer, cannotreadily'reach thecombs and sometimes have to build ladders of Wax tofacilitate entranceand exit.

The present day type of construction is .also objectionable because thebQttOm bOSJTQ proper ismot seli-draining. .As aresult, .it has ofienbeen necessary to placeibl'ooks underneaththe rear edges e'l the side:rails in order itofacilitate drainage. When this is done and whenlthere are a number of liives superimposedaon each other, the resul-t isa leaning tower effect.

"By studying the habitsef the boss -1 have discovered that a uniformspace between the-xupper edge of the bottom board and the bottombf' thehive is not necessary and my experiments have shown that, if the bottomlboard proper is mounted at 'an angle between the side-rails with a verysmall space between the uppersull'facewf the bottom board properand thebottom :of the hive at the rear end of the-bottom board, and with saidspace progressively increasing toward the front-of the-'-hive, th at thefollowing advantages result? The =ei1tranceand exit of the bees isfacilitated in the summertime; the same arrangemen't maybe used in thewintettime'=-without *turning over the bottom -*-boa-r'd and withdefinite "advantages; and in both summer and winter, due to the angularposition e f-the bottom board proper, -'suitable clrainage'lsobtainedwithout causing the superimposed -hives to depart from r aperpendicular position.

It is therefore a general object of the "invention to"provide an'imp-rovedfibottom board :.assembly in which the bottom board properinclines: downwardly *from the rear'of the hivetoward the front tothereby facilitate the entrance and eidt-"o'fthe bees in anyseason ofthe year with the sa'me bottom boaid arrangement, and tomake it easierfor-the'be'es to movethe 'dead bodies out ofthe 'frontof the hive whenthis-becomes necessary, and :to "also insure proper drainage in allseasons.

A 'zturther object of the invention is to provide abottorn boardassembly which may be left-in the same position for "both summer andwinter use buflwhich may' be turned over andreversed end for end withoutchanging the spacing relationshil s. Thus the bottom board assembly 'mayti l be us d-i011 lo t e after o surfaces hasbecome'too worn out forfurther use.

.n iurther objeetof the invention is to provide a bottle board assembly'which is simple and inexp nsi e. c nstruct on wh Will cre the. eIlQbe vg ano as an indirect 'result the .s-produot vityof the ees and ch o h rell adapted fo the pur o e fi vr ed.

Wit th abo e a d "o r ob e "i vi l' he inv n on o s f t e mp o b t mboard es andal i slpartsjandt m ffort he c aims nd ..;1equivalents'thereo f. a the accompan -ins dra ing, llustratin -o Fig. 4is a perspective view showing a hive mounted on a bottom board:assembly'and with I the hive cover in place.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

the bottom board assembly comprises side rails 8 and 9, a bottom boardproper I0, which may of the present invention are left in the sameposition. With prior structures they have been turned over to provide auniformly large space below the bottom of the hive. With the presentinvention as the older bees in the hive die and fall down onto thebottom board NJ, the live bees can readily push the dead bodies towardthe front of the bottom board because of the inclined disposition ofsaid board. Thus, in the winter, the bees can keep the rear'en'tran'cespace b clear and there is plenty of room at the front of the bottomboard for the dead bodies because of the progressively increased be madeup of a single length of wood or of three sections as illustrated, arear edge closing strip- 1 l, and a front edge closing strip l2.

While the sideedges of the bottom board) may be secured to the siderails 8 and 9 in any desired manner, it'is preferred. to have the siderails grooved as at 13 and M for receiving the edges of the bottomboardproper. These edges may :be suitably nailed in position within thegrooves or otherwise secured. With the present invention the grooves.are angled so that the spaced just behind the front strip I2 .ispreferably equal to the space b just in front of the rearstrip ll andthe space 0 between the upper surface .of' the front-edge of the bottomboard and the upper edges of the side rails is preferably equal to thespace d between the lower surface of the bottom board and the loweredges of the rails at the rear end of the bottom board assembly. Inprior construction there has been a uniform space from front-to rear onone side of the bottom'board l0 and a much larger uniform space fromfront to rear on the other side of the bottom board proper. I

IMounted on the side rails, with its rear wall seated on the strip H, isthe hive body IS. The latter is of standard construction and comprises abox which is open at the top and bottom. I The hive body supports, inany well-known manner, a plurality of frames l6, and within the framesarethe combs H. The usual cover l8 mayalso be used. M

For a ten-framehive it is preferred to have the spacing at c and dthirteen-sixteenths of an inch, and it is preferred to have the spacingat a and b five-sixteenths of an inch. These exact figures, however, mayvarysomewhat without departing from the spirit of the invention.Heretofore for a ten-frame hive a uniform spacing of three-eighths of aninch has been maintained in summertime between the upper surfacev of thebottom board and the upper edges ofthe side rails throughout the lengthof the bottom board, and. a uniform spacing of seven-eighths of an inchhas been maintained below the lower surface of the bottom boardthroughout its length.

spacing. Thus, clogging is prevented. In both seasons of the yeardrainage of the bottom board 0 is insured, and there is never anynecessity for placing blocks under the rear ends of the side rails tocause undesirable tilting of the hives.

After the upper surface of the bottom board I!) Wears out the entirebottom board assembly may be turned over and reversed end for end. Whenthis is done, the. front strip I 2 becomes a rear closure strip and thespace d becomes an entrance space. i

It is apparent from the above that the improved bottom board assembly,whiledeparting materially from recognized practices as to spacing forsummer and winter use, not only facilitates the work of the bees, toindirectly increase their productivitygbut also provides a bottom boardconstruction which has increased life and usefulness. Various changesand modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and all of such changes are contemplated as may come withinthe scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A bottom board assembly for beehives comprising spaced side railshaving upper edges for supporting a hive, a bottom board supportedbetween said side rails below the upper edges thereof and extending atan angle to provide a progressively smaller headroom space between theupper surface of the bottom board and the plane of the upper edges ofthe side rails from front to rear, a closure strip extendingtransversely between the side rails'near the rear edge of the bottomboard and filling the rear end space between the upper surface of thebottom board and the plane of the upper edges of the side rails, and astrip of substantially the same thickness below the bottom With thepresent invention, the bees from the board near the front edge thereoffilling the space between the lower surfaceofthe bottom board and theplane of the lower edges of the side rails, said bottom board also beingso positioned between the side rails that when the assembly is turnedover and reversed end for end, the head room space at any point alongthe length of the bottom board is substantially the same as the headroom space at the corresponding'point when the bottom board is in thefirst position.

2. A bottom board assembly for beehives comprising spaced side railshaving substantially straight and parallel upper and lower edges, theupper edges being adapted to support a hive, and a bottom. boardsupported between said side rails intermediatethe upper and lower edgesthereof and extending at an angle to provide a progres' sively smallerheadroom space between the upper surf-ace'of the bottom board and theplane of the upper edges of the side rails from front to rear,saidbottom board also being so positioned be tween the side rails thatthe space at the front of the assembly between the upper surface of thebottom boardand the plane of the upper surf-ace ofthe siderails is equalto thespace' at the'rear of'the 'assembly'between the lower surface ofthe 5 bottom board and the plane of the lower surface REFERENCES CITEDof the side rails, and the space at the front of the 1 assembly betweenthe lower surface of the bottom The followingreferences are of record inthe board and the plane of the lower surface of the file of this patent:side rails being equal to the space at the rear of the assembly betweenthe upper surface of the UNITED STATES PATENTS bottom board and theplane of the upper surface Number m Date of the ide mils. 521,876Denzenbaker June 26, 1894 WALTER DIEHN-ELT. 6,22?! Danzenbaker Aug- 11,1903

